Unlikely Friendships
by Ronnie Jane
Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy call a truce.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything.  
Setting: This is set immediately after the end of the war and mainly follows the book.  
Dedication: In memory of my Mom who introduced me to these books and always listened to my crazy theories!  
A/N: Happy 20th Anniversary to The Harry Potter Series! I can't believe it's been that long! I can't wait to see what the next twenty years will bring for this series!

The castle lay in ruins around them and the air had a sense of death and new beginnings. This was the case for everyone. They had all lost someone or something during that terrible war. This was also true for a snarky and shaken Draco Malfoy who was sitting with his family in the Great Hall.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter had just gotten back from Dumbledore's office and now had his own wand back. He was about to head over to the Weasley family, until he saw the Malfoys sitting in a corner all alone. Thinking of all he now knew about Draco, Harry turned, instead, toward the Malfoys.

Seeing Potter making his way over to them, Malfoy immediately shot up and in a defeated tone asked," What do you want, Potter?"

"A private word."

Irritated by Potter's request, Malfoy looked back at his parents and they nodded. With that, he followed Potter outside and down to the Black Lake. Once there they stared at each other for a few minutes to see who would be the first to speak. Finally, Malfoy asked in a demanding tone, "Well, what did you want?"

"I wanted to call a truce between us."

Draco was stunned for a moment, but then angrily asked, "What pray tell makes you think there can ever be a truce between us?"

"Because we have both suffered enough. Hermione pointed out to me that we are both more alike than we care to admit."

Draco looked offended, yet curious, "What do you mean?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that we have both suffered in very much the same way?"

"I've never really thought about it," he replied curtly.

"Well, we both lost our childhood by being given impossible tasks at a young age. You know most of what I went through. One part you don't know is that I saw you being forced to torture someone."

"How did you know about that?" Draco demanded.

Harry looked haunted for a minute as the memories resurfaced before replying "I used to be able to see into Voldemort's mind."

"How? "

"Do you know what a Horcrux is?"

Hesitantly, Draco nodded.

After taking a breath to compose himself, Harry continued, "I was one of them. Voldemort used Avada Kedavra on me and instead of killing me- it killed the part of his soul that was inside me. That was how I saw into his mind. We were connected."

Draco didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.

"That's not all I saw. I saw you that night on the astronomy tower."

Draco was gob smacked for a minute and took a few moments to compose himself before saying, "All I wanted was to protect my parents. Despite all that they have done, they're still my parents."

"I can understand that. If my parents had still been alive I would have done anything to protect them."

They were both silent for a minute, before Harry continued, "Draco, there is one thing I don't understand."

Draco let out a sigh and looked resigned, "You want to know why I saved your life?"

Harry nodded.

"I'll tell you, but first why did you save mine?"

Harry chuckled, then said, "My friends say I have a bit of a "saving people thing", and I suppose that had something to do with it."

"Typical Gryffindor," taunted Draco.

Harry only glared before continuing, "To be honest, I saw through your facade."

"I saw through yours as well. In fifth year, you pushed everyone away to protect them. I did the same in sixth year."

They were both silent for a beat, realizing that their relationship had somehow changed with that revelation.

Harry then awkwardly stated, "Well, we were both gits."

Draco nodded. He then looked out at the lake, and thought about how to answer the question. Harry seemed to sense he needed some time and pretended to look out at the lake as well. A few minutes later, Draco turned back to him and Harry noticed that Draco looked paler than usual. He also noticed that Draco looked more haunted than he had ever seen him.

Finally, Draco looked him directly in the eyes and said, "I saved your life that night because I knew that, if he killed you, all hope of a better future would have been lost. Every day I saw what he was doing, and it horrified me. So, when I saw my opportunity, I took it. At that point, it didn't matter that I disliked you, and to be honest I don't think I ever really disliked you."

Harry stared open mouthed in shock for a minute.

Draco smirked," Close your mouth Potter. As I was saying, I was jealous of you, and later I envied the kind of friendship you had with Granger and Weasley."

Harry nodded his head and extended his right hand. Draco hesitated, and then shook Harry's hand. After letting go, Harry proceeded to pull two wands out of his back pocket. One of them was his and the other Draco's.

"I have something of yours. It may not work the same as before. Ollivander told me that it now answered to me, unless of course, you were to disarm me," he said with a challenging tone.

"Scared Malfoy?"

"You wish."

I apologize that there are no indentations. For some reason, I cannot get the paragraphs to indent the way I want them to. I hope you enjoyed the story anyway! Please review!


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